


Kankri==> Be the Other Woman

by Newtavore



Series: red kanned tuna because the ship name is hilarious [2]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Attempted Breakup, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Hemocaste Problems, I'm Sorry I Kinda Made Latula a Bitch, Lying to People With Memory Problems, M/M, Possessive Behavior, Relationship Problems, She's Not Being a Bitch Intentionally Though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-04
Updated: 2014-06-04
Packaged: 2018-01-25 16:30:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1655072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Newtavore/pseuds/Newtavore
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She's trying to rip your heart out again, she's trying to take away everything you love again, but all you can focus on are her eyes. It's like your vision's whited out, your gaze needle pointing on the stupidest, most unimportant details, like the way her eyes look, almond shaped outlines through the red lenses of her shades, and once you would have called them perfect, but that was before you'd brushed tangled strands of hair from Mituna's face and laughed with him as he'd stared into your soul. Before you'd seen the glow of psionics in scleraless eyes, before you'd discovered the beauty of heterochromatic irises and asymmetrically, before you'd discovered him, and now... </p><p>Now she is trying to take him from you, and you are so, spitefully, hideously furious that you can't think straight.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kankri==> Be the Other Woman

**Author's Note:**

> sorry for the shit quality and characterization on this one
> 
> one of three brand new ficcies I'm uploading for peeps on tumblr because it's my birthday today, whoohoo

“You stole him from me.”

 

 

Your name is Kankri Vantas, and you think you might feel angrier than you have ever felt before, in this life and the one previous.

 

“I was better for him. I am better for him.”

 

Latula stands in front of you, uncharacteristically serious, and you want to hit her. You want to tackle her to the floor, scream at her, pull her hair and bite her and cause her  _pain_ , as much pain as she has caused, is causing you.

 

“Just give him back to me and nothing bad will happen, Kankri. You know he’s going to wake up and get confused, and hurting the little dude just isn’t rad, okay?”

 

You dig your claws into your hands and try to control the overwhelming, bitter _hatred_ that wells up in your chest, hard and cold and platonic. Your desire to hurt her has nothing to do with quadrants and everything to do with the way she's trying to pick your life to pieces again, like she has so many times before, and you're almost gagging on anger, violence, implacable hate. You've never felt like this before. It's terrifying. 

 

“No.”

 

She looks startled, and for good reason. You… you used to care for her. You used to listen to her, obey her, follow her careless, thoughtless commands because you liked her, you really did, you could even say at one point you might have loved her, but... 

 

You love Mituna more. And you refuse to give him up until he leaves himself, not this time. Not again.

 

“You know how this always ends, Kanny,” she says, pleading, staring at you through her shades, the outlines of her eyes just visible though the red lenses, “It always ends in tears. Just give him to me, I’ll walk out of here, he’ll wake up in my hive and no one will get hurt."

 

“You don’t think this hurts  _me_?” you spit, teeth catching on your lower lip, and they tear for all their bluntness, sending little dribbles of blood bubbling over your broken skin, “You don’t think it  _kills_  me inside every time you succeed in ripping my heart and soul away from me all over again? You don’t think it causes me  _agony_  to watch you take him away over and over and over?”

 

She's trying to rip your heart out again, she's trying to take away everything you love again, but all you can focus on are her eyes. It's like your vision's whited out, your gaze needle pointing on the stupidest, most unimportant details, like the way her eyes look, almond shaped outlines through the red lenses of her shades, and once you would have called them perfect, but that was before you'd brushed tangled strands of hair from Mituna's face and laughed with him as he'd stared into your soul. Before you'd seen the glow of psionics in scleraless eyes, before you'd discovered the beauty of heterochromatic irises and asymmetrically, before you'd discovered _him_ , and now... 

Now she is trying to take him from you, and you are so, spitefully, hideously _furious_ that you can't think straight. You're scared, trembling with fury and fear and triggers and warnings are the literal last things on your mind because all you can think about is how you cannot stand down again, how you can't let this happen like you have every other time. You can't let her good natured wheedling and well intentioned meddling make you think that you can't handle it, you can't let her talk you into giving him up again, you can't, you _can't_.

 

Your legs shake but you refuse to stand down, refuse to give ground in any way that could be perceived as weakness. 

 

“I love him. I love him, and you keep taking him from me. I won’t allow it anymore, I won’t let you take him anymore!”

 

She takes a step forward, but despite everything in you screaming to back down, submit, you refuse to step backwards. You will not allow her to steal your matesprit away from you again- either he leaves under his own power, by his own choice, or he doesn’t leave. 

 

“You know this isn’t going to end well.”

 

“I don’t  _care_ ,” you gasp, and to your dismay your voice cracks halfway through, “Don’t you understand, I don’t _fucking care_ anymore, I just want him for as long as he’ll allow me to have him, no more and no less! I will not have you dictating how long I am able to be with my matesprit any longer, I won’t have it!”

 

There are tears dripping down your face, thick and tinted red, but you know she won’t care for the distress she’s caused you. She doesn’t care for you, only for Mituna, and her upbringing has lead her to believe that she is best suited to be with him, compared to you. Because what are you, if not needing care yourself? How can you attend to him and his needs when you are incapable of tending to your own? How can a mutant blood care for anyone with any degree of competency?

 

Because you _are_ a mutantblood, and you are seen as inferior. You are seen as weak, defenseless, unreliable, and despite sweeps upon sweeps of trying to disprove such notions, you have not been successful in changing the minds of those around you. So instead, you push them away, keep them from wanting to coddle and care for you, and it’s worked, it has, but now no one trusts you with anything, especially not him. 

 

The worst part is, you know she isn’t doing this to be cruel. Latula doesn’t have the capacity for malice, she isn’t doing this to intentionally make you suffer. She honestly believes she is doing what is best, for the both of you, and you think that hurts the worst. Because, despite her good intentions, she is killing you. 

 

She is  _killing_  you, slowly, over and over and over every time she snatches him from under your nose. Every time she convinces him that they are quadranted, every time everyone else stands back and lets it happen because obviously this is so much better, obviously she’s better suited for him, obviously this is the best course of action, despite your feelings. None of them think you have feelings, anyways, so why would they consider how badly they were hurting you? 

 

Every time you see them together, you die again on the inside, and you are sick and tired of always hurting, always being in emotional agony, always feeling like you’re one step away from the edge of the cliff, one step away from ending everything, because oh god, it's not like you haven't thought about it. If it weren’t for the fleeting moments they allow you to have, when Mituna regains enough of himself to ask for you, to love you, to want you... 

 

Sometimes, you’re sure this is a punishment for your actions, your behaviors. You tried to adjust your world views, tried to tone yourself down, tried to be better, but it didn’t help, didn’t change, they still kept you away from him and he still stayed with her, and you gave up policing yourself and your habitual distancing. 

 

Something touches your shoulder, and your legs give out, sending you to your knees.

 

Even with the gloves he wears, you can feel the warmth of him, the heat of his body and his blood and the energy he carries inside himself that he can’t quite expend, no matter how hard he tries or how lucid he gets. His hand rests on your shoulder, burning you like a brand through the thick material of your sweater, and he chitters at you, fingers twitching sporadically. 

 

“’Tulip,” he says, all smiles, “W-what- what’s up?”

 

His ragged teeth catch on his tongue and he lisps horribly, but he still sounds more clear headed than he has in ages, and the sound makes your heart clench in your chest because he’s still talking to her, still focused on her, and you can’t stop the tears from falling. 

 

“Just explaining some things to Kankz over here,” she replies, tossing her hair, grinning herself, and you want to rip the smile off her face with your claws, you want to  _hurt_  her, and that _scares_ you, “Time to come home, Tunababe, let’s go play some video games or something.”

 

His fingers catch in the fabric, trembling, claws digging into your shoulder, and, slowly, he shakes his head. 

 

“No.”

 

She looks shocked. 

 

You don’t think Mituna has ever told her no before, not so seriously, not so clearly, not unless it was part of a rash tantrum- and no wonder, because he adores her, doesn’t he, wants to keep her happy, except… 

 

“I- I wnana-  _wanna_  st-stay whit Kanny.”

 

His hand moves from your shoulder to your hair, and he pets you, ever so soft despite the shaking of his limbs, ever so careful not to catch your horns with his claws. 

 

“Tunababe, I know you wanna stay here now, but that’s gonna change, and it’s gonna make you upset and frustrated so why don’t you just come home with me? Please, babe-“

 

He interrupts her with a much more violent headshake, hand clenching in your hair, but he lets you go when you make a noise of protest, patting the sore spot apologetically. He opens his mouth, but no sound comes out for almost a minute, and his face is twisted in concentration.

 

“I- i wanna stay her-re. Kanny makes all the pie-eces in my head make sense.”

 

He

 

He wants to stay

 

with you. 

 

You’re clutching the ground, fingers digging into soft soil, trying not to shake yourself out of your skin because  _he wants to stay with you_. He wants  _you_ \- not her,  _you_. Your breath comes in short, choppy little pants, and you feel like you might pass out but he wants you, and he’s so focused on saying everything correctly, pronouncing everything right, he’s trying so hard to be lucid and clear, he wants you, he’s so serious about wanting to stay with you… 

 

“Mituna, honey-“

 

“No!” he shouts, and you jolt in shock, choking back your startled exclamation. He falls to the floor beside you and wraps an arm around your shoulders, pulling you to his chest and he’s warm, he’s so warm and you’re cold and shivering and despite his spastic twitching it's still so very comforting to be wrapped up in him, “Just c-cause my head is broke doesn’t f-fcuking mean I can’t mkae my own deshicions! I am not stupid!”

 

You shush him, softly, because you know if he continues on in this vein it will only give him an agonizing migraine. He smushes his face against your hand, grumbling under his breath, but kisses you, rough and uncoordinated but he’s kissing you, he wants to stay with you, he loves  _you_. 

 

“I’m not studip- stupdi-  _stupid_ ,” he mumbles, quieter, “Just cause I think wreird an’ I can’t say things right d-d-doesn’t menam fckuign stupid.”

 

He kisses you again, softer, with one trembling hand pressed against your cheek and despite the audience you know you have you can’t help but melt into the contact, leaning against his fingers with no shame whatsoever. 

 

“Mituna…” 

 

He shakes his head again, and clunks your foreheads together gently, not even turning to look at her. 

 

“I ke-kept gnoig along wtih you cause i was conf-fused,” he says, speaking to her but looking at you, blank eyes boring into your own, “But Kanny makes everything make more sense. I liek you, Tulip, but it was re-re-really fukcign mean to keep me awya from Kanny. I liek Kanny too, and he meansa lot to me, an’ I don’t ap- apr-f _uckshitdammit_ -”

 

“Appreciate,” you murmur against his lips, and he grins crooked and nods.

 

“- _Apreshate_ -“ and it’s close enough- “-you triyng to control me.”

 

He stands and pulls you up with him, keeping you tucked against his side, still so protective even damaged, broken, and with his hand on your back you feel invincible. 

 

“I’mma go back isside wiht my matesprit now, kay?”

 

You think Latula’s too shocked to say anything in response. Lord knows you’re too shocked to respond when he tugs you back into your hive, stumbling and tripping and giggling to himself and sneaking you kisses here and there, like nothing had ever happened, like he didn’t just lay into the troll who’d been pretending to be his matesprit for so long, like he didn’t just pick you over Latula. 

 

And you can’t actually believe it. He picked you over Latula. He picked you over Latula, and now you’re in your hive, and he’s pulled you into his lap and is curling around you like an oversized, affectionate pet, nuzzling your face and crooning. If you were anything other than the somewhat mature and put together troll you are, you would have pinched yourself to make sure you aren’t dreaming. 

 

The only things that stop you are how ridiculous you'd look and the thought that, if you are dreaming, by god you do not want to wake up. 

 

“Kanny?”

 

Your mouth opens to correct him, automatically, without thought, but you bite down on your tongue and turn to him instead, faces only inches apart. 

 

“I’m shor- sorry.”

 

He bumps your noses together, eyes half lidded, chewing on his lip nervously and you reach out and gently pry the abused flesh from between his teeth, shushing him softly. 

 

“I- I think I was cofunsed- confused. I love you. I wanna stay with you. I think I hurt you, and I’m s-orr-rry.”

 

“It’s alright, Mituna, I understand, you have nothing to apologize for,” you sooth, and to your horror tiny little yellow tears start dripping from the corners of his eyes, streaking lines of liquid gold down his face. He shakes his head violently, and you try to keep him still because you know he’s just going to hurt himself if he keeps it up. 

 

“’S not okay I hurt you dindin't- didn’t wanna hurt you btu I made you sad, I’m sorry, my head dodsen't- doesn’t allays work right but I love you, I loev you a lot Kanny an’ I don’t wanna leaf you so can I stay wiht you forever and ever?”

 

You have matching tear stains on your own face now, you can feel them, and he’s staring at you with his blank, blank eyes and he looks so lost and hopeful that you can’t help yourself. You brush his tears away and kiss him, cradling his face in your hands, and he chirrs, voice shaky. 

 

“Of course Mituna, you can stay with me as long as you desire. I will never request you leave, I love you just as much. And please, it’s alright, don’t apologize, I have you now and that’s all I ever wanted.”

 

He yips, rolling you over and settling all his weight on you, boxing you in with his limbs and trapping you underneath him. His face rubs against yours, and your horns click together but you don’t even mind, because he’s here, with you, and he wants to stay. He chose you over Latula and he wants to stay.

 

“I love you lots Kanny,” he purrs, and he’s still Mituna, still the conniving, inappropriate little bastard you fell in love with hundreds of sweeps ago, you can see it in his crooked smile, hear it in his choppy words, and god, you love him more than anything else in the universe, you love him more than life and death itself. 

 

He curls around you further, burying his face in the crook of your neck and humming weird, slightly discordant tunes, sticking his tongue out and licking up your throat every so often, dual tipped tongue tickling you. 

 

God, you love him so much, even with all his idiosyncrasies and flaws, all the damage he’s suffered, everything he’s been through, how much he’s changed. Because he has changed, it’s undeniable, unavoidable, but he’s still Mituna, still yours, and _he chose you_. 

 

The love of your life chose to stay with you, and it’s more than you could have ever asked for. 

 


End file.
